This disclosure relates to methods of servicing a wellbore. More specifically, it relates to servicing a wellbore with particulate material compositions.
Natural resources (e.g., oil or gas) residing in the subterranean formation may be recovered by driving resources from the formation into a wellbore using, for example, a pressure gradient that exists between the formation and the wellbore, the force of gravity, displacement of the resources from the formation using a pump or the force of another fluid injected into the well or an adjacent well. The production of fluid in the formation may be increased by hydraulically fracturing the formation. That is, a treatment fluid (e.g., a fracturing fluid, a gravel packing fluid, etc.) may be pumped down the wellbore at a rate and a pressure sufficient to form fractures that extend into the formation, providing additional pathways through which the oil or gas can flow to the well.
To maintain the fractures open when the fracturing pressures are removed, a particulate material such as for example a propping agent (i.e., a proppant) may be used. Particulate packs (e.g., proppant packs) are typically introduced into the wellbore and surrounding formation during fracturing and completion operations in order to provide a structural frame for both downhole support and fluid collection, e.g., consolidate the wellbore and/or subterranean formation. The conductivity of the particulate pack (e.g., proppant pack) may be enhanced in some instances by promoting the formation of channels through the particulate pack (e.g., proppant pack), which may further lead to enhanced wellbore productivity. Conventional particulate materials that are generally used to form particulate packs with flow channels may include materials that have to meet certain specifications/standards. However, such materials add to the cost of wellbore servicing operations. Thus, an ongoing need exists for more effective compositions and methods of promoting the formation of channels through particulate packs (e.g., proppant packs) in subterranean formations.